Smartphone Essential Awards 2009

I’m a bit of a sucker for awards, here we have the Smartphone Essentials awards from Smartphone Daily. Some relevant categories and some phones rightfully nominated, others not so much. have a look, but this isn’t an award you can vote for.

The nominations for the 2009 Smartphone Essentials Awards sponsored by eXpansys have been announced, pitching many of the biggest names in the mobile industry in a head-to-head battle. There are ten categories, all of which will be hotly contested after one of the strongest years ever for smartphones.

The last year has seen relative newcomers such as Apple and RIM cement their position as leaders in the smartphone field alongside established favourites such as Nokia and Samsung. 2009 has also been the year in which Google’s Android has emerged from the initial hype with a growing range of handsets at a varying range of prices. Although its overall impact was limited over this last year, the OS looks set to be one of the shining lights of 2010.

The smartphones that are up for the main awards rank as the most powerful we’ve seen so far. The consumer smartphone category is dominated by big-screened multimedia handsets such as Samsung’s i8910 HD, the first and as-yet only device capable of recording HD video. In the business smartphone category the range is slightly more varied, running the full gamut of form factors and functionalities.

On the GPS side the year has seen fewer manufacturers than previous years, leaving the big names like TomTom, Garmin and ALK to battle it out in their respective categories. In spite of this it is as fiercely competitive as it ever was, with SIM cards becoming a feature of some high-end personal navigation devices, and the iPhone becoming a popular and attractive platform on the software side.

Smartphone Essentials editor Andy Betts commented: “This last year has brought an astonishing array of new devices, taking the smartphone further into mainstream territory than ever before. Some of the year’s best handsets are now no longer mere phones, but fully functioning mobile computers capable of performing the kinds of tasks unimaginable a few years ago. The winners of these awards really will represent the best the industry has to offer.”

The judging panel, who will decide on six of the ten awards, consists of Smartphone Essentials writers and representatives from the retail industry, including Roger Butterworth of event sponsors eXpansys. In addition to those awards there are three categories judged by readers of Smartphone Essentials and smartphonedaily.co.uk, including the award for best network.

All the winners will be revealed in full in the next issue of Smartphone Essentials, which hits shelves on 3 November.

Best consumer smartphone
Apple iPhone 3GS
HTC Hero
HTC Touch Diamond2
Nokia N97
Samsung i8910 HD
HTC Magic

Best business smartphone
BlackBerry Curve 8900
HTC Touch Pro2
HTC Snap
Nokia E52
Acer M900

Best value smartphone
BlackBerry Curve 8520
Nokia 5800
Acer F900
Nokia E63
O2 Xda Zest

Best satnav system
Garmin nüvi 765T
Garmin nüvi 1340T
Mio Navman Spirit 500
Navigon 7310
TomTom XL LIVE

Best satnav software
ALK CoPilot Live 8
Garmin Mobile XT5
TomTom Navigator 7
Navigon MobileNavigator
Smartnav Mobile

Other awards:
Smartphone of the Year
Best accessory (chosen by the SE team)
Readers’ award: Best smartphone
Readers’ award: Best satnav
Readers’ award: Best mobile network

[Source: Smartphonedaily]